Condensation in loft - Damp issue? or sumthing else?

[lee1982]

okay I moved into my first house about 2 years ago now, and the house is a small 2 bedroom semi detached 11 years old, last winter when I went into the loft I noticed water droplets all over the loft roof and didn't really think anything off it and I'm sure I went up in the summer there was no issue, when going back up for winter again there are a lot of water droplets covering the whole loft roof lining and obvious thats it's dripping off onto the stuff in the loft, why is this?? I'm guessing it shouldn't be this way,

Things that may help.

The loft is half boarded with wooden boards on the floor were its not boarded it looks like theres 2 layers of insulation down.

The windows in the house around winter time again get few droplets of water around the bottom of the window pane nothing major but obvious

There are no signs of damp in the house, the only thing I can say last year when we had heavy rain the back patio door I presumed was leaking, the beading on the laminate floor, around the door was damp, I put this down to the patio door and ran some silicone along the patio door sill on the outside and haven't had any signs since.

I'm hoping to add some pics of the loft roof and windows as soon as possible

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• lee1982
• 29 Dec 2009
• 1

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• lee1982
• 29 Dec 2009
• 1

 

[lee1982]

Okay done a bit of searching and this looks like condensation.

Now things i dont think are helping.

My mrs washing clothes and having loads of wet clothes on the radiators!
This a difficult one to solve the kitchen small and there is no room for tumble dyier, im thinking of putting a tunble dyier in the shed as i have power in there, she will maon she has to go outside in the cold though.

Bathroon extractor, we never have this on and i blocked it due to the noise of the flaps on the outside when its windy need to start using this with bath and showers.

Loft insulation, i need to check this as because the center of the loft has boards down the edge looks like the insulation is doubled and ive noticed the edged have vents in for circulation im guessing, i need to check the insulation aint blocking the vents.

Windows, every ventilation vent on the double glazing is closed, im gonna try leaving a few open.

Any other suggestions?[/b]

 

[Chukka63]

you need to make sure any ventilation to the roof space is free of debris.if it is then you need more ventilation.if this doesnt cure it you could try adding a few vent tiles near the ridge.
window condensation is pretty common.i either put up with it or leave the window on night vent.

 

[mater]

your roof timbers look wet? you should have air flow in your loft, you need to make sure your insulation is not blocking this flow at the eaves. open all your window vents and make sure you get the extractor fan going to help reduce condensation, if you must dry washing indoors open the windows a little.

 

[lee1982]

Mrs is home in a few hours so she can look after the daughter then im gonna go into the loft and take a look and check ventilation, i thought the same about the roof timbers when i looked at the picture again so ill check.

 

[lee1982]

okay ive been into the loft the roof timbers do look wet in the pics but it doesnt seem that bad when i had a look they are slightly wet were there touching the roof felt as i would expect with all the condensation on the felt.

im not sure what you mean by the eaves.

The loft has wooden boards down in the center out to the edges another layer of insulation has been put down running across all the slats so there is two layers, is this a problem? is it doing more harm than good?

also into there corners the insulation is paked in, i dont know if this is ment to be here or is just restricting all the air flow, pics are below.

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• lee1982
• 30 Dec 2009
• 1

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• lee1982
• 30 Dec 2009
• 1

 

[jm2000]

Hi, ok where the roof is at it lowest point around the house, it sits on the walls of the house. you may have to lay flat to look......but at this point, the insulation should not be packed tight, the air flow comes in at that point.

So basically your going to be putting your hands down the cavity of your external walls.

Also what he is explaining is where your gutter is at that point there should be some kind of ventilation into the roof space....thats where the insulation in the attic space will be pushed into blockin the airflow, and it wont be just one point...it will run the length of the house on either side.

 

[lee1982]

now in the very corners there is small peices of insulation stuffed in. is it mean to be like this, in this pic you can see the middle one i have removed.

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• lee1982
• 30 Dec 2009
• 1

So on one side of the loft i have removed the double layer and removed the insulation in the very corners, is this how it is meant to be? i could feel a diffrence in the air circulation, or have i made things worse? pic below

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• lee1982
• 30 Dec 2009
• 1

 

[Chukka63]

those black plastic things at bottom of the roof are there to let the air move freely into the roof.looks like they may have been blocked before you removed some of the insulation.you can insulate up to them but make sure the holes are free.

try that for a few days and check what happens,if it doesnt clear the droplets completely you can try fitting a few vent tiles near the top of the roof.

(laymans english above in case the pros come in and give proper names which i could have done but thought i might confuse some people)

 

[lee1982]

those black plastic things at bottom of the roof are there to let the air move freely into the roof.looks like they may have been blocked before you removed some of the insulation.you can insulate up to them but make sure the holes are free.

try that for a few days and check what happens,if it doesnt clear the droplets completely you can try fitting a few vent tiles near the top of the roof.

(laymans english above in case the pros come in and give proper names which i could have done but thought i might confuse some people)

Okay thank you for that, ill go back up again make sure both sides arent blocked and ill put the spare insulation back down but not close to the ends so im not blocking any ventilation, as far as im aware there is no harm in having two layers of insulation

Ill make sure we use the extractors in bathroom ect and try not to dry clothes and see if theres a inprovement on the condensation

 

[Chukka63]

2 layers of insulation is fine but when the trays were fitted the norm was a single thickness and this covering of the vents is very common when the 2nd layer is fitted,especially if done by a home owner that wouldnt know/think of the consequences.

 

[lee1982]

2 layers of insulation is fine but when the trays were fitted the norm was a single thickness and this covering of the vents is very common when the 2nd layer is fitted,especially if done by a home owner that wouldnt know/think of the consequences.

I went up before, some of the insulation was covering the crossflow ventilator (Plastic things ) at the top and even some were blocked at the bottom as some had been rammed that far down it went into the eaves touching the soffit vent. not all though, some were okay, one had that much forced down it it had split one of the crossflow ventilators, im hopeing now this will inprove things or ill think about the vent tiles. thanks for your input! hope my terminology has improved

 

[Chukka63]

glad to be of service and looks like youve rectified the problem.

 

[herbert111]

make sure lee that you add the second layer of insulation over the joists as you do lose heat through joists. Also lay this across the joists (obviously)

herbert

 

[lee1982]

make sure lee that you add the second layer of insulation over the joists as you do lose heat through joists. Also lay this across the joists (obviously)

herbert

i have done, thanks